575 Wandsworth Road, London, was the home of Kenyan poet and civil servant Khadambi Asalache until his death in 2006. Following his death he left it to the National Trust, which opened the house as a museum for pre-booked guided tours.

Contents

Asalache bought the "two-up two-down" Georgianterraced house in Wandsworth Road in 1981,[1] paying less than the asking price of £31,000.[2] The property was in a poor state of repair when he bought it, having previously been occupied by squatters.[1] For 20 years,[3] he decorated it internally with Moorish-influenced fretwork[1] which he cut by hand from discarded pine doors and wooden boxes.[2] The intricate woodwork was augmented by illustrations of African wilderness, and his collection of 19th-century English lustreware.[2][3][4]

1.
Georgian era
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The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement which dominated the world of ideas in Europe during the 18th century, The Century of Philosophy. In France, the doctrines of les Lumières were individual liberty and religious tolerance in opposition to an absolute monarchy. French historians traditionally place the Enlightenment between 1715, the year that Louis XIV died, and 1789, the beginning of the French Revolution, some recent historians begin the period in the 1620s, with the start of the scientific revolution. Les philosophes of the widely circulated their ideas through meetings at scientific academies, Masonic lodges, literary salons, coffee houses. The ideas of the Enlightenment undermined the authority of the monarchy and the Church, a variety of 19th-century movements, including liberalism and neo-classicism, trace their intellectual heritage back to the Enlightenment. The Age of Enlightenment was preceded by and closely associated with the scientific revolution, earlier philosophers whose work influenced the Enlightenment included Francis Bacon, René Descartes, John Locke, and Baruch Spinoza. The major figures of the Enlightenment included Cesare Beccaria, Voltaire, Denis Diderot, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, David Hume, Adam Smith, Benjamin Franklin visited Europe repeatedly and contributed actively to the scientific and political debates there and brought the newest ideas back to Philadelphia. Thomas Jefferson closely followed European ideas and later incorporated some of the ideals of the Enlightenment into the Declaration of Independence, others like James Madison incorporated them into the Constitution in 1787. The most influential publication of the Enlightenment was the Encyclopédie, the ideas of the Enlightenment played a major role in inspiring the French Revolution, which began in 1789. After the Revolution, the Enlightenment was followed by an intellectual movement known as Romanticism. René Descartes rationalist philosophy laid the foundation for enlightenment thinking and his attempt to construct the sciences on a secure metaphysical foundation was not as successful as his method of doubt applied in philosophic areas leading to a dualistic doctrine of mind and matter. His skepticism was refined by John Lockes 1690 Essay Concerning Human Understanding and his dualism was challenged by Spinozas uncompromising assertion of the unity of matter in his Tractatus and Ethics. Both lines of thought were opposed by a conservative Counter-Enlightenment. In the mid-18th century, Paris became the center of an explosion of philosophic and scientific activity challenging traditional doctrines, the political philosopher Montesquieu introduced the idea of a separation of powers in a government, a concept which was enthusiastically adopted by the authors of the United States Constitution. Francis Hutcheson, a philosopher, described the utilitarian and consequentialist principle that virtue is that which provides, in his words. Much of what is incorporated in the method and some modern attitudes towards the relationship between science and religion were developed by his protégés David Hume and Adam Smith. Hume became a figure in the skeptical philosophical and empiricist traditions of philosophy. Immanuel Kant tried to reconcile rationalism and religious belief, individual freedom and political authority, as well as map out a view of the sphere through private

2.
Terraced house
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They are also known in some areas as row houses or linked houses. Terrace housing can be throughout the world, though it is in abundance in Europe and Latin America. The Place des Vosges in Paris is one of the examples of the style. Sometimes associated with the class, historical and reproduction terraces have increasingly become part of the process of gentrification in certain inner-city areas. Yarmouth Rows in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk is an example where the building fronts uniformly ran right to the property line, Townhouses are generally two- to three-storey structures that share a wall with a neighbouring unit. As opposed to an apartment building, townhouses do not have neighbouring units above or below them and they are similar in concept to row houses or terraced houses, except they are usually divided into smaller groupings of homes. The first and last of these houses is called an end terrace, in Australia, the term terrace house refers almost exclusively to Victorian and Edwardian era terraces or replicas almost always found in the older, inner city areas of the major cities. Terraced housing was introduced to Australia from England in the century, basing their architecture on those in the UK, France. Large numbers of terraced houses were built in the suburbs of large Australian cities, particularly Sydney and Melbourne. Detached housing became the style of housing in Australia following Federation in 1901. The most common building material used was brick, often covered with cement render, many terraces were built in the Filigree style, a style distinguished through heavy use of cast iron ornament, particularly on the balconies and sometimes depicting native Australian flora. In the 1950s, many urban renewal programs were aimed at eradicating them entirely in favour of modern development, in recent decades these inner-city areas and their terraced houses have been gentrified. The suburbs in which houses are often found are often sought after in Australia due to their proximity to the CBD of the major cities. They are therefore sometimes quite expensive even though they are not the preferred accommodation style. The lack of windows on the side, the gardens. The lack of off-street parking that most have is also an issue for the majority Australians, terraced housing has long been a popular style in Paris, France. The Place des Vosges was one of the earliest examples of the style, in Parisian squares, central blocks were given discreet prominence, to relieve the façade. Terraced building including housing was used primarily during Haussmanns renovation of Paris between 1852 and 1870 creating whole streetscapes consisting of terraced rows

3.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area

4.
Kenya
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Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country in Africa and a founding member of the East African Community. Its capital and largest city is Nairobi and it is bordered by Tanzania to the south and southwest, Uganda to the west, South Sudan to the north-west, Ethiopia to the north and Somalia to the north-east. Kenya covers 581,309 km2, and had a population of approximately 48 million people in January 2017, Kenya has a warm and humid tropical climate on its Indian Ocean coastline. The climate is cooler in the grasslands around the capital city, Nairobi, and especially closer to Mount Kenya. Further inland are highlands in Central and Rift Valley regions where tea, in the West are Nyanza and Western regions, there is an equatorial, hot and dry climate which becomes humid around Lake Victoria, the largest tropical fresh-water lake in the world. This gives way to temperate and forested areas in the neighbouring western region. The north-eastern regions along the border with Somalia and Ethiopia are arid and semi-arid areas with near-desert landscapes, Kenya is known for its world class athletes in track and field and rugby. The African Great Lakes region, which Kenya is a part of, has been inhabited by humans since the Lower Paleolithic period, by the first millennium AD, the Bantu expansion had reached the area from West-Central Africa. Bantu and Nilotic populations together constitute around 97% of the nations residents, European and Arab presence in coastal Mombasa dates to the Early Modern period, European exploration of the interior began in the 19th century. The British Empire established the East Africa Protectorate in 1895, which starting in 1920 gave way to the Kenya Colony, Kenya obtained independence in December 1963. Following a referendum in August 2010 and adoption of a new constitution, Kenya is now divided into 47 semi-autonomous counties, the capital, Nairobi, is a regional commercial hub. The economy of Kenya is the largest by GDP in East, agriculture is a major employer, the country traditionally exports tea and coffee and has more recently begun to export fresh flowers to Europe. The service industry is also an economic driver. Additionally, Kenya is a member of the East African Community trading bloc, the Republic of Kenya is named after Mount Kenya. The origin of the name Kenya is not clear, but perhaps linked to the Kikuyu, Embu and Kamba words Kirinyaga, Kirenyaa, if so, then the British may not so much have mispronounced it, as misspelled it. In the 19th century, the German explorer Johann Ludwig Krapf was staying with the Bantu Kamba people when he first spotted the mountain. On asking for the name of the mountain, he was told Kĩ-Nyaa or Kĩĩma- Kĩĩnyaa probably because the pattern of black rock, the Agikuyu, who inhabit the slopes of Mt. Kenya, call it Kĩrĩma Kĩrĩnyaga in Kikuyu, which is quite similar to the Kamba name. Ludwig Krapf recorded the name as both Kenia and Kegnia believed by most to be a corruption of the Kamba version, others say that this was—on the contrary—a very precise notation of a correct African pronunciation /ˈkɛnjə/

5.
Squatting
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Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential—that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. Author Robert Neuwirth suggested in 2004 that there were one billion squatters globally and he forecasts there will be two billion by 2030 and three billion by 2050. Yet, according to Kesia Reeve, squatting is largely absent from policy and academic debate and is rarely conceptualised, as a problem, as a symptom, Squatting can be related to political movements, such as anarchist, autonomist, or socialist. It can be a means to conserve buildings or to provide housing, while these settlements may, in time, grow to become both legalised and indistinguishable from normal residential neighbourhoods, they start off as squats with minimal basic infrastructure. Thus, there is no sewage system, drinking water must be bought from vendors or carried from a nearby tap, besides being residences, some squats are used as social centres or host give-away shops, pirate radio stations or cafés. In Spanish-speaking countries, squatters receive several names, such as okupas in Spain, Chile or Argentina, Squatting by necessity is in itself a political issue, therefore also a statement or rather a response to the political system causing it. During the period of recession and increased housing foreclosures in the 2000s, squatting became far more prevalent in Western. In some cases, need-based and politically motivated squatting go hand in hand, conservational – i. e. preserving monuments because the authorities have let them decay Political – e. g. Property law and the state have traditionally favored the property owner, however, in many cases where squatters had de facto ownership, laws have been changed to legitimize their status. Anarchist Colin Ward comments, Squatting is the oldest mode of tenure in the world and this is as true of the Queen with her 176,000 acres as it is of the 54 percent of householders in Britain who are owner-occupiers. They are all the recipients of stolen land, for to regard our planet as a commodity offends every conceivable principle of natural rights. U. K. police official Sue Williams, for example, has stated that Squatting is linked to Anti-Social Behaviour and can cause a great deal of nuisance, in some cases there may also be criminal activities involved. The public attitude toward squatting varies, depending on legal aspects, socioeconomic conditions, in particular, while squatting of municipal buildings may be treated leniently, squatting of private property often leads to strong negative reaction on the part of the public and authorities. Adverse possession is a method of acquiring title to property through possession for a period under certain conditions. Countries where this principle exists include England and the United States, however, some non-common law jurisdictions have laws similar to adverse possession. For example, Louisiana has a doctrine called acquisitive prescription. There are large communities in Kenya, such as Kibera in Nairobi. An estimated 1,000 people live in the Grande Hotel Beira in Mozambique, the Zabbaleen settlement and the City of the Dead are both well-known squatter communities in Cairo

6.
Lusterware
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The first use of lustre decoration was as painting on glass. Staining glass vessels with copper and silver pigments was known from around the 3rd century AD, Lustre glazes were applied to pottery in Mesopotamia in the 9th century, the technique later became popular in Persia and Syria. The reminiscence of shining metal, especially gold, made especially attractive. Lusterware was produced in quantity in Egypt during the Fatimid dynasty in the 10th-12th centuries, while the production of lusterware continued in the Middle East, it spread to Europe through Al-Andalus. Málaga was the first centre of Hispano-Moresque ware, before it developed in the region of Valencia, and then to Italy, in the 16th century lustred maiolica was a specialty of Gubbio, noted for a rich ruby red, and at Deruta. Unlike other Persian wares of the period, these use traditional Middle Eastern shapes and decoration rather than Chinese-inspired ones, designs featured plant forms and animals, and generally flowed freely over the whole surface, typically taking up over half the surface area. Production, which was never large, appears to have mostly been from about 1650-1750 and it is often thought to have been centred in Kirman, though firm evidence is lacking. Metallic lustre of another sort produced English lustreware, which imparts to a piece of pottery the appearance of an object of silver, gold or copper. Very dilute amounts of powdered gold or platinum were dissolved in aqua regia and added to spirits of tar for platinum, the mixture was applied to the glazed ware and fired in an enameling kiln, depositing a thin film of platinum or gold. Platinum produced the appearance of silver, and was employed for the middle class in shapes identical to those uses for silver tea services. Depending on the concentration of gold in the compound and the under slip on which it was applied. The gold lustre could be painted or stenciled on the ware, or it could be applied in the resist technique, in which the background was solidly lustred, in 1810 Peter Warburton of New Hall patented a method of transfer-printing in gold and silver lustre. Wedgwoods lusterware made in the 1820s spawned the production of quantities of copper and silver lustreware in England. Raised, multicolored patterns depicting pastoral scenes were created. Pitchers were produced in a range of sizes from cream pitchers to large milk pitchers, tea sets came a bit later, usually featuring creamers, sugar bowls, and slop bowls. Large pitchers with transfer printed commemorative scenes appear to have arrived around the middle of the 19th century and these were purely decorative and today command high prices because of their historical connections. Delicate lustre imitating mother-of-pearl was produced by Wedgwood and at Belleek in the mid-century, under the impetus of the Aesthetic Movement, William de Morgan revived lustrewares in a manner drawing from lustred majolica and Hispano-Moresque wares, with fine, bold designs. In the United States, copper lusterware became popular because of its lustrousness, apparently, as gaslights became available to the rich, the fad was to place groupings of lusterware on mirror platforms to be used as centerpieces for dinner parties

7.
Sir John Soane's Museum
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Sir John Soanes Museum was formerly the home of the neo-classical architect John Soane. It holds many drawings and models of Soanes projects and the collections of paintings, drawings, the museum is located in Holborn, London, adjacent to Lincolns Inn Fields. It is a public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media. Soane demolished and rebuilt three houses in succession on the side of Lincolns Inn Fields. 12, externally a plain brick house, after becoming Professor of Architecture at the Royal Academy in 1806, Soane purchased No. 13, the next door, today the Museum. In 1808–09 he constructed his office and museum on the site of the former stable block at the back. In 1812 he rebuilt the front part of the site, adding a projecting Portland Stone facade to the basement, ground and first floor levels, originally this formed three open loggias, but Soane glazed the arches during his lifetime. Once he had moved into No,13, Soane rented out his former home at No.12. After completing No.13, Soane set about treating the building as an architectural laboratory, in 1823, when he was over 70, he purchased a third house, No. 14, which he rebuilt in 1823–24 and this project allowed him to construct a picture gallery, linked to No.13, on the former stable block of No.14. The front main part of this house was treated as a separate dwelling and let as an investment. When he died No.14 was bequeathed to his family, the Museum was established during Soanes own lifetime by a Private Act of Parliament in 1833, which took effect on Soanes death in 1837. The Act required that No.13 be maintained as nearly as possible as it was left at the time of Soanes death, and he also wrote an anonymous, defamatory piece for the Sunday papers about Sir John, calling him a cheat, a charlatan and a copyist. The Museums Trustees remained completely independent, relying only on Soanes original endowment, since that date the Museum has received an annual Grant-in-Aid from the British Government. The Soane Museum is now a centre for the study of architecture. In 1997 the Trustees purchased the house at No.14 with the help of the Heritage Lottery Fund. The acquisition of No.14 enabled the Museum, under its new Director, Tim Knox, to embark on Opening up the Soane and it is funded by the Monument Trust, the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Soane Foundation in New York, and other private trusts

8.
Horror vacui
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In visual art, horror vacui, also kenophobia, from Greek fear of the empty), is the filling of the entire surface of a space or an artwork with detail. The term is associated with the Italian art critic and scholar Mario Praz, older, and more artistically esteemed examples can be seen on Migration period art objects like the carpet pages of Insular illuminated manuscripts such as the Book of Kells. This feeling of meticulously filling empty spaces also permeates Arabesque Islamic art from ancient times to the present, another example comes from ancient Greece during the Geometric Age, when horror vacui was considered a stylistic element of all art. The mature work of the French Renaissance engraver Jean Duvet consistently exhibits horror vacui, the paintings of Williams, Faris Badwan, Emerson Barrett, Joe Coleman and Todd Schorr are further examples of horror vacui in the modern Lowbrow art movement. Sometimes the patterned art in clothing of indigenous peoples of Middle, for example, the geometric molas of Kuna people and the traditional clothing on Shipibo-Conibo people. The artwork in the Wheres Wally, series of childrens books is a commonly known example of horror vacui, as are many of the small books written or illustrated by the macabre imagination of Edward Gorey. The Tingatinga painting style of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania is an example of horror vacui. Other African artists such as Malangatana of Mozambique also fill the canvas in this way, the arrangement of Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs suggests an abhorrence of empty space. Signs are repeated or phonetic complements added to prevent gaps, the term is also used as an analogy to the Aristotelian idea that a physical vacuum is impossible, and therefore the idea must be rejected. This was widely believed up to the time of Rene Descartes, fractal art, infinitely detailed computer-generated art Azerbaijani rug Persian carpet

9.
Alhambra
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The Alhambra, the complete Arabic form of which was Qalat Al-Hamra, is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain. It was converted into a palace in 1333 by Yusuf I. After the conclusion of the Christian Reconquista in 1492, the became the Royal Court of Ferdinand and Isabella. Alhambras late flowering of Islamic palaces were built for the last Muslim emirs in Spain during the decline of the Nasrid dynasty who were subject to the Christian Kings of Castile. The Alhambra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the inspiration for many songs, Moorish poets described it as a pearl set in emeralds, an allusion to the colour of its buildings and the woods around them. The palace complex was designed with the site in mind. The park has a multitude of nightingales and is filled with the sound of running water from several fountains. These are supplied through a conduit 8 km long, which is connected with the Darro at the monastery of Jesus del Valle above Granada, Alhambra was extended by the different Muslim rulers who lived in the complex. However, each new section that was added followed the consistent theme of paradise on earth, column arcades, fountains with running water, and reflecting pools were used to add to the aesthetic and functional complexity. In every case, the exterior was plain and austere. Sun and wind were freely admitted, blue, red, and a golden yellow, all somewhat faded through lapse of time and exposure, are the colors chiefly employed. Much of this ornament is carved stucco rather than stone, tile mosaics, with complicated mathematical patterns, are largely used as panelling for the lower part. Similar designs are displayed on wooden ceilings, muqarnas are the main elements for vaulting with stucco, and some of the most accomplished dome examples of this kind are in the Court of the Lions halls. It is a place where artists and intellectuals had taken refuge as the Reconquista by Spanish Christians won victories over Al Andalus, the literal translation of Alhambra, the red, reflects the color of the red clay of the surroundings of which the fort is made. The buildings of the Alhambra were originally whitewashed, however, the buildings as seen today are reddish. Another possible origin of the name is the designation of the Nasrid Dynasty, known as the Banu al-Ahmar Arabic, Sons of the Red. One of the early Nasrid ancestors was nicknamed Yusuf Al Ahmar, the first reference to the Qal‘at al-Ḥamra was during the battles between the Arabs and the Muladies during the rule of the ‘Abdullah ibn Muhammad. According to surviving documents from the era, the red castle was quite small, Ibn Nasr, the founder of the Nasrid Dynasty, was forced to flee to Jaén to avoid persecution by King Ferdinand III of Castile and the Reconquista supporters working to end Spains Moorish rule

10.
Generalife
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The palace and gardens were built during the reign of Muhammad III and redecorated shortly after by Abu I-Walid Ismail. Much of the garden is a recent reconstruction of dubious authenticity, the former is thought to best preserve the style of the medieval Persian garden in Al-Andalus. Originally the palace was linked to the Alhambra by a walkway across the ravine that now divides them. The Generalife is one of the oldest surviving Moorish gardens, the present-day gardens were started in 1931 and completed by Francisco Prieto Moreno in 1951. The walkways are paved in traditional Granadian style with a mosaic of pebbles, white ones from the River Darro, the Generalife is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Granada, along with the Alhambra palace and gardens, and the Albayzín district. There is an imitation of part of the Generalife at Roundhay Park in Leeds, palacio de Galiana Spanish gardens Alhambra and Generalife Official Site Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín, Granada Museum With No Frontiers BBC Picture Gallery Generalife plan

The Natural History Museum, shown in wide-angle view here, has an ornate terracotta facade by Gibbs and Canning Limited typical of high Victorian architecture. The terracotta mouldings represent the past and present diversity of nature.